Ebony Jackson relies on her income from her business cleaning Airbnb properties.

ABC NEWS: Alexandra Humphries

Hobart cleaner Ebony Jackson is one of many business owners benefiting from the explosion of the short-stay accommodation market in Tasmania, which is generating an estimated $100 million a year for the state's economy.

"About 45 per cent of my business is Airbnb, it's a good source of income for me," she said.

She typically has about 25 Airbnb units on her cleaning roster, and at Christmas time it could be as many as 60.

The booming short-stay accommodation sector means the small business owner has been able to employ two women.

"I think that it's good for the tourism and it's certainly good for business," she said.

But a Legislative Council inquiry into short-stay accommodation established earlier this year has heard not everyone is benefiting from the sector's success.

Regulation five years too late

Tourism Industry Council chief executive Luke Martin told the inquiry there a number of properties operating outside the regulatory system, and that in hindsight tighter regulation of the industry could have occurred up to five years earlier.

"If I hear one more conversation from Airbnb promising to provide more data and information I'll spew," he said.

"I mean it's been for four five years assurances given, left, right and centre," he said.

Airbnb did not appear at the inquiry's first day of hearings but its competitor HomeAway did.

The company's spokesman Eachman Curry proposed a register of short-stay accommodation properties, but did not commit to handing over all of the data the State Government and local councils have been asking for.

"We will continue to work with government to make sure there is compliance with any new regulatory measures," he said.

Impact of short-stay spreads

The inquiry also heard that the impact of short stay accommodation platforms on housing is deepening across the state in areas such as Launceston, Devonport and on the east coast.

"There's lots of data now showing Launceston is becoming less affordable, I think the pattern will continue because we're not keeping pace with the change," Shelter Tasmania CEO Pattie Chugg said.

In Hobart, Ben Bartl from the Tenants' Union of Tasmania said rents had risen by 16 per cent in the past two years.

"It's our view that because of the shortage of rental properties in Tasmania, but particularly in greater Hobart, prospective tenants are generally offering more than the advertised price in order to get the property," he said.

LGAT policy director Dion Lester added that in King Island, the short-stay accommodation boom had caused delays in construction work.

"They've lost a lot of rental properties, so now even though they've got developers that are seeking to build hotels, they can't find accommodation for their workforce," Mr Lester said.

In a statement, Airbnb's head of public policy ANZ Brent Thomas said the company had worked hard to finalise a data-sharing agreement with the Tasmanian Government "that would help inform policy and support compliance, but equally important would protect the privacy of our community".

"Despite best efforts, an agreement that would appropriately protect Tasmanians' privacy has not been reached," he said.

"We will continue to work with the Tasmanian Government to support the fair, balanced rules introduced last year."